Diseases which affect the neurological system are multiple and consist of inflammatory lesions, conduction problems, and neurotransmission disorders. Different processes affect central nervous tissue vs. peripheral nervous tissue, myelinated nerve fibers vs. unmyelinated nerve fibers, and neurons themselves vs. glial cells and supporting cells. Most neurological diseases can only be very minimally treated because of the inaccessability of nervous tissue. Examples include amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord problems i.e. diabetic neuropathy and retropathy, etc. Disorders of embryogenesis and development of neurological tissue as well as other tissues occur quite frequently and until the present invention there are very few methods of attempting to control this process. Developmental disorders are characterized by spinal cord malformations (i.e. spina-bifida, etc.) and cerebral malformations (hydrocephalous, etc.). Malignancies of the neurological system are also at present difficult to manage and extremely common in the developmental stages.
The present invention seeks to overcome this problem by modifying the intracellular environment in the neural and supporting cells to control the disease process.